A much-anticipated APA project is nearing completion and will be available to members next week. Last year the Association began working with the Law Firm of Quattlebaum, Grooms, Tull & Burrow (QGTB) to produce a complete list of all notice provisions requiring publication in newspapers from the entire Arkansas Code Annotated. QGTB graciously offered to undertake the daunting amount of research involved gratis as a service to the Arkansas Press Association.

The resulting 423-page Public and Legal Notices Digest is an exhaustive compilation of Arkansas statutes requiring public notice, the most complete ever produced by APA. Newspapermen and public officials will have special interest in this book, which can be a useful tool in understanding what is required to be published in Arkansas newspapers.

The Digest is fully searchable, can be used as a reference book and, by utilizing one of four (4) indexes, the user can readily find the subject matter of interest. The first index is a comprehensive, alphabetized listing of all the statutes in the book. The second index informs the user of the category of each chapter. The third index informs the user of the notices required for a particular month of the year. The fourth index is a comprehensive, alphabetized listing of all the statute numbers in the book.
In addition, at the beginning of the book, the contents are arranged under eleven chapters. In each chapter, the statutes are listed, for the most part, in numerical order as they appear in the Arkansas Code.
In the future, the book will be accompanied by a supplement bringing in all of the notice requirements created by various regulations in force in the state.

It will be available in electronic form (as a portable document file or PDF) at the APA’s website (www.arkansaspress.org). It can be found at two locations that can be accessed from the website menu: “Legal / Gov’t Resources” and “Publications.” In either location those wishing to download the book need only find and click the link for the book title, Public and Legal Notices Digest.

It will be available next week. Those interested in downloading a copy are encouraged to keep an eye on APA’s website and these forums.

The Public and Legal Notices Digest is now available via the APA's website. The complete, edited version weights in at 444 pages, is supported by four indexes and is organized into eleven chapters. It is available only in electronic form (as a portable document file or PDF). To get your copy, go to the APA’s website (www.arkansaspress.org). The Digest can be found at two locations that can be accessed from the website menu: “Legal / Gov’t Resources” and “Publications.” In either location those wishing to download the book need only find and click the link for the book title, Public and Legal Notices Digest. It is accompanied by a brief "Help File."

For those who may have missed this bit of news last week, an error has been discovered in the Public and Legal Notices Digest released by the APA this summer regarding the publication of delinquent personal property tax lists. That list, like the delinquent lands list, is required to be published only once.

The Digest indicates it should be published twice, and that was originally the case before the Arkansas General Assembly repealed the requirement, limiting publication to one time. The listing has, understandably, created some confusion.

The current (and correct) statutes requiring publication of tax delinquency lists are on the APA website and have been for years...in the “Gov’t / Legal Resources” section. APA members should note this change for future reference.